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Antimicrobial use has been common practice for at least 2000 years. Ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks used specific molds and plant extracts to treat infection. [5]In the 19th century, microbiologists such as Louis Pasteur and Jules Francois Joubert observed antagonism between some bacteria and discussed the merits of controlling these interactions in medicine. [6]
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is a disinfection technique employing ultraviolet (UV) light, particularly UV-C (180–280 nm), to kill or inactivate microorganisms. UVGI primarily inactivates microbes by damaging their genetic material, thereby inhibiting their capacity to carry out vital functions.
Iodine will kill all principal pathogens and, given enough time, even spores, which are considered to be the most difficult form of microorganisms to be inactivated by disinfectants and antiseptics. Octenidine dihydrochloride, currently increasingly used in continental Europe, often as a chlorhexidine substitute.
A bactericide or bacteriocide, sometimes abbreviated Bcidal, is a substance which kills bacteria. Bactericides are disinfectants , antiseptics , or antibiotics . [ 1 ] However, material surfaces can also have bactericidal properties based solely on their physical surface structure, as for example biomaterials like insect wings.
Microorganisms growing on an agar plate. Sterilization (British English: sterilisation) refers to any process that removes, kills, or deactivates all forms of life (particularly microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, spores, and unicellular eukaryotic organisms) and other biological agents (such as prions or viruses) present in fluid or on a specific surface or object. [1]
Low-level disinfection kills some viruses and bacteria with a chemical germicide registered as a hospital disinfectant by the EPA." [ 13 ] An alternative assessment is to measure the Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of disinfectants against selected (and representative) microbial species, such as through the use of microbroth dilution ...
Virulence factors are molecules, cellular structures and regulatory systems that enable bacteria to evade the body's immune defenses (e.g. urease, staphyloxanthin), move towards, attach to, and/or invade human cells (e.g. type IV pili, adhesins, internalins), coordinate the activation of virulence genes (e.g. quorum sensing), and cause disease ...
Antimicrobial peptides have been demonstrated to kill Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria, [1] enveloped viruses, fungi and even transformed or cancerous cells. [2] Unlike the majority of conventional antibiotics it appears that antimicrobial peptides frequently destabilize biological membranes , can form transmembrane channels , and may ...